Algorithms changing traffic while I was vacation.

[PiacereMioPaperie]

Algorithms changed traffic to my shop, when I was on a short vacation with my family. I went from 100's of viewers daily to an average of about 18-35 viewers a day. I am not quite sure why this is happening.  

Has this been your experience? Does anyone know WHY, or have any pointers on how to recover from this lack of traffic to the shop?  Thanks for your insight!

[AutumnWeddings]

It's something to do with while you've been on vacation, Etsy has been getting no data on how people interact with your listings, but they have with other sellers so it can take a while for them to gather that data again. 

[PoochandTabby]

THIS ^^^

If you ever have to go away for not a lengthy amount of time, just extend your processing times and put a note in your Announcement. Putting your shop on vacation mode takes you out of view and will take a while to get back up to pre-vacation stats.

[JDTotesnDolls]

That can hurt a shop just as much as vacation mode because Etsy expects quick shipping.

I have used vacation mode of various lengths over the years and have had absolutely no problem in returning to my previous views. 

[cindylouwho2]

@JDTotesnDolls no, extending processing times won't cause as many issues as vacation mode (unless you did it for a very long time, like more than a month). That may change in the future, of course, but it is not a bigger issue now. 

Your shop isn't one of the types affected by vacation mode, so your experience is irrelevant to the OP. 

[GieseDeseiGns]

You are not selling, your items are not visible,  thus others items will show before yours. It stands to reason that if your items are not showing as you are on vacation, your items will be rated lower than ones showing and available for purchase. If you are to be gone less than two weeks I would push time out and not do vacay.

[FallenAngelBrass]

Yeah, calling it "vacation" mode is kinda misleading.  It's more like "coma" mode.  A shop in vacation mode is a near lifeless shop as far as the algorithm is concerned.  A shop doesn't spring back to life immediately after having been on a "vacation." 

[cindylouwho2]

" ...have any pointers on how to recover from this lack of traffic to the shop" 

as others have mentioned, Etsy's various algorithms don't get much data from a shop in vacation mode, so getting more of that data flowing once you return is the key:

• drive traffic to your shop to boost sales. 
• do what you can to get reviews on your previous sales. (I know a lot of people hate the idea of asking for reviews - me included - but Etsy encourages it, & it is one of the few things you can do to reboot)
• some people say listing new helps, but in reality, that is only going to help if you have regulars lurking your shop or checking their notifications for new listings.
• if you do have the above (built-in regulars), a sale can also help sometimes. 
• once you have done all of the above, stay active in your shop. If you were planning on upgrading some listings (e.g., seasonal or gifting keywords, images) now is the time.

Also, when were you on vacation, and how long as it been since you returned? Other things have changed around here which could be having an impact.

I hope things pick up for you soon! 

[PiacereMioPaperie]

Thank you so much for the tips.  I will do things differently, next time I am on vacation!

Now to work on the recovery is gonna take time and a loss of income.  Ugh!  

[PiacereMioPaperie]

Thank you all who have posted.  I appreciate your support!  Thank you for all the tips.  Next time I will not go "on vacation".  I was so naive to think that using the vacation option would not change anything other than "I am on vacation, and please come back soon".  I now understand why my customers have not been returning to my shop.  They can't find me anymore.  They probably tried to locate the shop, and just assumed I closed, when there was no sight of my listings.   I agree with you, FallenAngelBrass...the vacation button is a bit misleading.  Lesson learned!  thanks again everyone.  

[DigNit]

I had the same experience! My shop is still not getting the same flow of people it did before going on vacation.

[StainedGlassYourWay]

How long have you been back from vacation mode at this point?  I'd always avoided doing it, but was going to be unavailable for a while next month and was considering doing it for the first time. 

[PrettyVagrant]

I’ve been open since 2011 and close for vacation every year and always bounce back pretty immediately.  
This year it was totally different in November and I fell off a cliff. I’m just now springing back from it, but my views and stats are still way off.

Something changed and I don't know what. I went back and forth over a month with worthless outsourced support that gave every copy and paste response, sometimes multiple times.  No help and no actual answers given.  
I almost lost my house and had to get a part time job.

its ridiculous that our spots are not held in some way so we can take a week or two off without the fear of loosing it all by Etsys secret algorithm. 
I’m still thinking of going to the media about it.

[Amaradorn]

@PrettyVagrant search ranking is NOT static. It is fluid - always changing relative to other listings and depending on the search query used.

Think of it like running a marathon - if you stop to have a drink, do you expect the entire race to be halted so that you don't lose your place? Of course not. What actually happens is that everyone else runs past you. Then you would need to run faster to regain your original place.

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

An alternative to vacation mode is to deactivate your listings which might work for you since you only have 38 active ones.  Then, when you return from your break you can reactivate them all and it should bring your shop back to life.  I have done it a few times in the past and my shop was on fire when I reactivated them all!

[cindylouwho2]

@JJewellerySuppliesUK "An alternative to vacation mode is to deactivate your listings " that's actually worse for Etsy algorithms than vacation mode since you can't get any views at all, and really can hurt you on Google as well. 

[PiacereMioPaperie]

That is a great suggestion!  Thank you.  I will definitely try that next time.  

[cindylouwho2]

@PiacereMioPaperie as I mentioned above, deactivating is worse than vacation mode. Do not deactivate instead of closing the shop. 

[JDTotesnDolls]

I have never had a problem with vacation mode of various lengths.  What I always do is renew items and have new items ready to go.  

[cindylouwho2]

@JDTotesnDolls renewing is no help to a listing quality score these days, although it used to help more. Since your shop isn't at risk of vacation mode issues, I wouldn't waste the money. 

Also, as I mentioned above, new items only help if you have a lot of lurkers waiting for them, or otherwise drive traffic to them. 

[ImperiumShaving]

Try renewing some listings and see if your views catch up

[cindylouwho2]

@ImperiumShaving renewing provides zero benefit in the algorithm these days. Used to help if you had items at the top of categories, but now they've changed that algorithm as well. 

[lolaanddaisydesigns]

I feel your pain. I was on vacation mode for three weeks in Feb. Usually average around 7000 views a week but have only had 5500 in the five weeks I've been back. I'll never make that mistake again and am currently looking for work to pay the bills.